Lighting devices have long used flat windows positioned in a port (“port windows”) to allow light through to an area where lighting is desired. For example, many underwater lights, particularly those for deep ocean applications, use a flat window of a high strength material such as acrylic or sapphire to withstand large external pressures at deep ocean depths such as 100 meters or more. Some underwater lights alternately use dome or similar shaped port windows.
Many modern lights use semiconductor lighting elements, typically light emitting diodes (LEDs), which provide high efficiency conversion of electrical energy to visible light or in some applications infrared (“IR”) or ultraviolet (“UV”) light. When used in lighting devices, the LED light output is passed through a port window, typically flat in shape, with the flat shape of the window limiting the output beam-width of the light. Many modern lights use multiple LEDs to provide more total light output and/or a slightly wider beam; however, lights using a flat port window will have a beam-width limited by the optical properties of the port material and medium the light passes through (e.g., the refractive index). These properties limit the overall beam-width of lights that use flat, smooth surface shaped port windows.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved lighting device components and assemblies to address the above described as well as other problems.